Monitoring of the oceans and other bodies of water for purposes of scientific research, national defense, or commercial development is becoming increasingly automated to reduce costs. For example, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) have emerged as key tools in the offshore engineering industry. Considerable investment is being made by nations around the world to develop UUVs for national or homeland defense. With the increasing requirement for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations in areas where access is denied or where ISR is otherwise desirably clandestine, UUVs will be increasingly put to use. Use of UUVs to service devices historically tended by submarines, deep submersible vehicles and divers will substantially reduce cost and risk to the operators. So, it can be seen, persistent ISR and other activities in problematic areas drive the need for means of sensing and communicating that do not require human intervention or costly engineering systems.
Certain warfare strategies require pervasive connectivity, including for intelligence preparation of a battle space. The strategy for preparation, particularly during the lead up to conflict in denied areas, may rely increasingly on UUVs that can gather and relay data to remote users.